People’s war in the past

Combining Mass Mobilisation with Armed Resistance-I
Harsh Thakor

The Andhra Pradesh State Committee (formed into CPIML-People's War in 1980)made a rectification in 1977 of the Charu Mazumdar era which opposed mass movements and mass organisations. In this period the Andhra Pradesh State Committee temporarily suspended the armed struggle and the mass organisations like APRSU revived the mass movements.

In the latter part of 1977 huge peasant rallies and demonstrations were held all over the state, not only on local issues but also for the release of political prisoners, against 'encounters', tortures in police lock-up and for removal of police camps. Slowly, peasant and agricultural labour unions began taking shape. In November 1977 the landlords attacked and killed Lakshmi Rajam of Sircilla taluq and Potta Poshetty of Jagtiyal taluq. In the next summer the RSU village campaign gave a big impetus to the peasant movement and from June 1978 the struggles began to pick up tempo. The major issues around which they rallied were: the enhancement of daily wages for agricultural labourers, increase of the monthly and annual wage rates for permanent farm labour, abolition of customary free labour and customary payments in cash and kind to the landlords, refund of bribes, taking possession of government land under landlord's occupation, occupation of waste land, confiscation of firewood and timber grown by landlords in government forest lands, etc. Strikes of agricultural labourers spread from village to village. Landlords were physically brought to public gatherings and asked to confess their crimes and apologise for their oppressive behaviour and pay back the illegal extortions. The peasants moved in big rallies, with red flags and occupied waste lands and government lands under landlord occupation. Also the strike movement, of labourers at beedi leaf collection centres in many taluqs of Karimnagar and Adilabad, gained momentum.

One of the most powerful and popular forms of struggle that developed during this period was the 'social boycott' of the landlords and their anti-people agents. When it was decided to socially boycott a landlord, the entire village decided to stop any interaction and service to him—he was deprived of his servants in the house, cattle feeders, agricultural labour, washermen, barbers etc. Later, this form of struggle was also used against police officials camping in the village.

Another remarkable phenomenon in this period, was the usurping and revolutionising of the institution of 'Panchayat' by the peasantry. 'Panchayat' is a traditional institution of the villages of the Telangana region, where any petty dispute is publicly adjudicated—with the landlord presiding, and, of course, passing judgment. Now, the landlords' authority was displaced and the revolutionary peasants took over the running of panchayats, and, in many cases, put the landlords on trial.

In spite of police repression, the movement grew and culminated in the historic march in Jagtiyal town. On September 7, 1978 over 35,000 people marched to Jagityal town. Of the 152 villages of Jagityal taluq, peasants and agricultural labourers from 150 villages attended the rally and meeting. Shaken by the strength of the movement, while some landlords fled to the cities, the other landlords and police began an offensive. Destroying and looting peasant houses, attacking, beating and even resorting to firing on peasants, became a daily occurrence. The peasants retaliated. A warlike situation grew. Heavy police re-enforcements reached the area and the rampage began. While the peasant upsurge lasted from June to September 1978 the police onslaught continued from September to December 1978. Though the upsurge receded in the face of police action, the resistance grew, and, in some taluqs of neighbouring Adilabad, took on a mass character.

By the beginning of 1979, the peasants regained their initiative, after recouping from the first shocks of the white terror. Now, organisational consolidation took place, political consciousness was raised on the nature of the state and the need to smash it, and the necessity of secret functioning was better understood and underground methods became better developed. The political and organisational basis was laid, to raise the struggle to a higher plane, also during this period the anti-feudal struggle spread to Peddapalli, Manthani and Huzurabad taluks of Karimnagar district and to Laxettipet, Asifabad.

Radical Students Union
The Radical Students Union (RSU) was formed on October 12, 1974 and the first State Conference was held in February 1975. This first conference released a manifesto exposing the various revisionist tendencies while holding aloft the banner of a revolutionary student movement. Hundreds of students inspired by Mao ze Dong Thought attended the conference. After the conference and before the next academic year, the Emergency was declared and the RSU had to face the full brunt of the repressive machinery. More than 500 students were subjected to inhuman torture, and 70 were thrown into prison. Four young students, Janardhan, Murali Mohan, Anand Rao and Sudhakar were taken to the Giraipally forests and shot dead by the police. Student activist, Nagaraju, was also arrested and shot. Yet RSU reorganised secretly and continued agitations specifically in their two strongholds—the Regional Engineering College of Warangal and the Osmania University in Hyderabad. They also started a magazine 'Radical' which was widely distributed amongst students.

In the villages of Karimnagar a major campaign was launched. Slogans were given to 'Boycott elections and join the Agrarian Revolution.' The peasants of Jagtiyal and Sircilla taluqs were greatly awakened. Committees were formed and struggles were started against local landlords. Strikes for wage increase, campaigns for the release of bonded labourers, resistance against different types of caste and gender discrimination, occurred. The following year another campaign was launched following the 2nd state Conference of APRSU. This time greatly inspired by the conference, peasant youths returned to villages to organise the peasantry.

In April, May, June 1979 the first joint campaign was carried out by the Radical Students Union and the Radical Youth League (RYL). This time not only the politics of agrarian revolution was propagated but students were educated on the Soviet backed Vietnamese aggression on Kampuchea. In subsequent campaigns the students courageously bore the onslaught of the police. They relentlessly propagated revolutionary politics. In 1980 they campaigned against the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. In 1981 they participated in a major agitation for the release of political prisoners, (including Koondappali Seetaramiah, the People's War leader). Meetings were held all over the state. The month of August was observed as Protest Week opposing the false encounters. On August 14th Anti-Repression day was observed. In 1982 a rally was held at Hyderabad on August 18th protesting against Encounter killings. In the 1985-86 Period the Radical Students Union chalked out a new strategy of countering the State Repression. Secretist method of functioning would now be adopted in contrast to open methods, however all the revolutionary politics would be propagated. In that period Nageshwar Rao was martyred. He was killed in a fake encounter in 1982.The 7th Radical Students Union Conference paid homage to Nageshwar.

In the 7th state conference held in February in 1987 the expansionist policies of the Congress govt. were condemned, including the Baliapal Missile base project and Nageshwar Rao's death was commemorated.

In 1988 and 1999 APRSU launched struggles on issues like BC Scholarships, opposing closing of BC hostels, cancelling of loans of peasants, opposing the nuclear plant in Nagarjuna Sagar, opposing the 59th Amendment bill. Students converged into Nagarjuna Sagar in Augaust 1988 to oppose the palnt, in a joint front with other progressive outfits.

Unofficially the APRSU was banned in 1984,before being officially banned in 1992. In spite of the ban 2 state conferences were held in 1993 and 1997.

In the last decade it heroically held underground conferences. Its major leaders were killed. Until the late 1990's the organisation was carrying out their district conferences. In 1996 on December 5th,6th and 7th the APRSU held its 10th State Conference.12 resolutions were passed .Earlier that year in East Godavari district the organisaton conducted a "Go to Villages Campaign' in Anantpur. Despite combing operations the teams were successful. Politics of New Democratic Revolution was propagated and people were urged to get organised into Rythu Collie Sangams. Villagers helping the students were arrested.

Whatever, in this brief period the party acted quickly to consolidate its mass base while using the opportunity for a massive mobilisation of the people. The party concentrated on building the party leadership at the village level, by imparting training (political and military) to the village defense squads and village militants.

This time the big sweep in the land occupation movements was for the occupation of landlords' (patta) land. Thousands of acres of land were occupied in AP and Dandakaranya. Also lakhs of people were mobilised on peasant issues like power cuts, writing off loans, remunerative prices for agricultural produce, reduction in rates of water cess, etc. The struggle against arrack contractors now became a struggle for the imposition of a total ban on the sale of liquor. The strike activity of the Singareni coal miners also reached a feverish pitch culminating in the September 1990 strike on workers' varied demands. The strike involved 80, 000 workers and continued for 42 days until the major demands were won.

Mobilisation of the masses in rallies, conferences, public meetings had reached a crescendo, disproving the lie that the People's War Party was a terrorist group, with no mass base. This propaganda was widely disseminated not only by the government, but also by some revolutionary groups, and some who had deserted the party. In times of acute repression the legal mobilisation of masses in meetings etc., was not always possible. Without a mass base and a mass line no guerilla war can survive for long. Yet, when the repression was partially lifted by the new Chenna Reddy government, the masses rallied as never before in a display of affection for the party and as a symbol of condemnation against the inhuman attacks of the past five years.

The first meeting held was that of the RWA in January 1990 at Hyderabad which drew one lakh people; 2 lakh people attended the 18th anniversary celebration of the JNM on February 20 at Hyderabad; the April 20 Indravelli memorial meeting was attended by over one lakh people; the 22nd April meeting at Bellampalli was also attended by one lakh people; the meeting at Mandamarri by 50, 000. All these meetings finally culminated with the 3rd Conference of the Rytu Coolie Sangam on May 5/6 at Warangal with a rally the size of which was never seen in the history of AP. The Conference was attended by 700 delegates and the public meeting and rally by over 10 lakhs (i.e. one million) people.

Dandakaranya
In Dandakaranya the movement was initiated by fighting against the arbitrary authority of government officials of the forest, revenue and excise departments who had been ruthlessly plundering the tribals. Also, struggles broke out against the management of the paper mill and contractors exploiting the forest produce. Big movements were built for enhancing the wage rates for tendu leaf collection. Also, peasants were mobilised for raising the support price of cotton. From the very beginning land struggle was a major issue. Within the very first year the tribal peasantry stopped paying a variety of taxes to the forest department and began occupying forest land for cultivation. Within one year two lakh acres was occupied. Some land, forcefully occupied by traders and moneylenders was taken back. Also land occupied by middle and rich peasants from the plains (non-tribals) was divided equally (50:50) amongst them and the problem settled. Anti-famine struggles took two forms - first, through the collection of paddy from donations; also paddy banks were started, where the peasants pooled some amount of paddy in these banks at the time of the harvest and then drew on the stocks in times of need. Second, through famine raids on the houses of landlords, moneylenders and traders who hoarded grain. Thousands took part in the famine raids. Apart from these struggles, struggles were also taken up to stop the building of roads and cutting of forests and also for the recovery of losses suffered due to bauxite mining in Bailadilla (MP).

In the Dandakaranya region two big mass organisations were built—the Dandakaranya Adivasi Mazdoor Kisan Sangh (DAKMS) and the tribal women's organisation—KAMS (Krantikari Adivasi Mahila Sanghatan). The Sangams grew in stature to become symbols of struggle to the tribals. Slowly all disputes began to be settled by the Sangam, whether a village dispute, a family dispute, a marriage dispute, a caste dispute or something related to tribal customs or community affairs. Also a relentless struggle was waged against backward tribal customs and traditions like human sacrifice, witchcraft, superstitions resulting in ill-health and disease and against practices which do not allow women to fully cover their bodies.

The peasant upsurge in DK smashed the authority of the landlords and established the power of the peasant committees. The chief organ of political power was the revolutionary peasant committees or Gram Rajya Committee (GRC) as they are known. Also, an important organisation, first to harass the enemy and later also to establish the authority of the peasant committees, was the village defence squads—or Gram Rakshak Dal (GRD).

Bihar
The CPI(ML) Party Unity activists were released in 1977 from jail in Jehanabad and they opposed the S N Singh line. They also wished to recfify the error of abandoning mass organisation of the Charu Mazumdar era. From 1978 the CPI (ML) Party Unity launched their mass movement and for 2 decades brilliantly combined armed struggle with mass struggles. It formed peasant, women, youth and later student organisations (Bharat Naujavan Sabha). In 1994 the Democratic Students Union was formed. Although it launched armed struggle it laid more emphasis on the building of mass organisations and mass movements than the MCC. This author feels it had more open mass work than the People's War Group into which it merged in 1998. The Jehanabad-Palamau region is one of the most backward regions of Bihar. In addition to cultivation, the peasants had to rely on the collection of forest produce for their subsistence. In this area the writ of the landlord lay unchallenged. The situation began to change with the entry of the Unity Organisation. Learning from their previous left errors special attention was paid to build a mass base for the activities of their armed squads. A peasant organisation was formed—The Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti (MKSS).

In May 1984 the Palamau-Aurangabad Regional Committee of the MKSS had held its 1st conference and plans were being made for fresh attacks on the landlords. In June 1984 the movement faced a severe loss, when the popular secretary of the MKSS, Krishna Singh, was shot dead by landlords.

In 1986, the Bihar State Government banned the Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti, led by the Party Unity Group.This organisation had organised a strong revolutionary peasant movement particularly in areas of Central Bihar. The major areas were Jehanabad and Palamau districts. In 1986 a major massacre took place in Arwal in Jehanabad district.

Various struggles for partial demands and against landlord repression were led by the peasant organisatiqn.A typical example was in Garwah district.

An important Struggle took place in 1992 in Akbarpur village.The Samiti had entered the area in 1987 taking up the issue of a dalit Tola being razed to the ground after 2 Bhumihar landlords had been annihilated. The MKSS helped the Dalit families rebuild their houses. Later the struggle for wages was also taken up. Only after a protracted struggle did the peasants win the struggle for minimum wages. In 1992 the struggle for land began. Crop Seizure programmes were taken up and peasants were organised not to work in the houses and fields of the reactionary families. A strong economic blockade was launched.

The landlords attempted to bring their ploughs and bullocks in large numbers but their attempts were thwarted by the people. The village people seized the ploughs and bullocks. In 1993 the peasant organisation led a heroic struggle in the Palamau-Garwah region. On 25th May 1993 the peasants burnt the palatial house of Budhinarayan Sah, a notorious landlord who owned 1700 acres of land and who used to tie rebellious peasants to huge anthills of red ants. For over 4 years the people in the area had waged a struggle ransacking his house and seizing arms. 7,000 acres of land which he had criminally seized was re-captured by the peasants and Sah was forced to flee the village. The participation of the red defense squads was noticeable in these actions.

This was remarkable as the Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti was a banned organisation and now functioning in a ressurected form.

Similarly land struggles took place in other districts of Bihar like Gaya, Patna, Khagaria, Begusurai, Buxar, Rohtas, Bhabhua and Aurangabad. Struggles were also carried for people's authority. People's courts were set up to punish guilty offenders. In Palamau 400 women set up a Jan Panchayat trying a criminal by the name of Tetar Baiga guilty of raping several women. He was sentenced to death and beaten up in public.

In 1991 in Parasona, in Jehanabad, 22 acres of gair mazarua land controlled by a single landowner from Shaguni was captured under the leadership of the Mazdoor Kisan Mukti Manch (resurrected form of the Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti) and paddy was sown.At the time of the harvest the landlord henchman attacked the village, fired at the villagers and harvested the crop. The villagers boycotted the landlord for 2 years, at the end of which the land was sold to Sudhir Kumar, a middle-peasant owner of Lodhipur.

The Mazdoor Kisan Mukti Manch also captured 1000 acres of land created by the shifting of the river bed of Sone in Jalpura Village in Patna. The MKMM, in addition to struggles for fair wages ,took up issues directly connected to the development of agriculture. lt formed a struggle committee that took up the task of building the 9km check dam across the Tenar river in Arwal block. Community labour from the surrounding villages was organised. Such struggles depict the remarkable skill of the mass organisations led by the Party Unity while functioning mainly underground after being banned.

After the destruction of the Babri Masjid on December 6th 1992 by the Kar Sevaks the Bharat Naujavan Sabha launched a massive anti-communal campaign all through the State.

In 1999 in Jehanabad district the Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti and the Bharat Naujavan Sabha carried out a campaign against corruption, malpractices. It started from Jehanabad Railway station. Jai Kishore of Bharat Naujavan Sabha and Sunita of Nari Mukti Sangharsh Samiti addressed the gathering. This was significant as in the late 1990s it was impossible to carry out a mass meeting in the district. In Begusrai,around the same time a massive campaign was held, against notorious landlords Vijay Singh, Anil Singh. When the MKSP began to work in the region, the landlords tried to sell their lands, which they had stolen from the peasants who were now landless. They got in contact with the police and hired lumpens to attack the house of a poor peasant Ram Mahato. The MKSP activists protested. These struggles were carried out when the mass organisations were unofficially banned and had to virtually function from the underground.
(to be concluded)

Frontier
Vol. 45, No. 19, Nov 18-24, 2012

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